Around our new place and Aeeshah’s make over part 1

PHOTO link–>> https://photos.app.goo.gl/RFQuk5RaGbzEoufc8

Aeeshah’s makeover

Aeeshah has been on the hard since July 27th and already she has had her decks stripped of nearly everything. The decks have been sanded smooth and any blemishes filled with fiberglass.

Where we had old equipment that was no longer needed those items have been removed and their places filled and sanded flush with the deck.

Aeeshah looks quite sad, but is ready to get her new coat of gel coat. This will give her a brand new finish and she will be leak proofed again.

She went into the paint shed where the crew will sand her further and prepare her sides for painting. The waterline is being raised 4 inches and then the sides and new blue stripe will be painted with Algrip.

Meanwhile Ceasar our welder has sourced the new rudder stock steel, the material for the mast step, (base), and various other materials needed for all the replacements and repairs.

Tom our rigger has most of the new rigging at his “shop” and just awaits our arrival. He says “life’s too short to work at Ram” so we will take the boat to Texas Bay for him to rig.

Overall the work on Aeeshah is going wonderfully.

Our new home

Meanwhile we reside at a lovely cassa on the river. The place has more or less everything we need, is very peaceful, and comfortable. The evening sun setting in front of our dock across the bay, behind the distant mountains is a treat each time. It really makes for a beautiful, relaxing, evening.

My only real complaints would be how the sun blares right in during the later afternoons causing the front sitting area to be uncomfortably hot. However there is normally a good breeze that compensates this in the afternoons.

And the other complaint is the tabanos. These are just nasty biting insects/flys that cause the most vicious bite that can swell up and itch for hours. They are a form of horsefly, silent so you never hear them, sneaky, bugs. Their bite differs from a mosquito in that they have a serrated mouth that cuts a serrated plug out of you where it feasts on your blood, meanwhile you do not notice till the damage is done. Our friend Gillian told me to treat the bite straight away with fresh lime and this decreases the reaction – it really works so I have limes cut and ready.

We have a housekeeper, Katerine; her husband – security, and their little daughter, Katerine living across our bridge from us in their cottage.

Every place has a housekeeper here, it’s just part of life. It was an adjustment at first as I am totally used to doing my own everything. And Katerine is used to having to everything for anyone staying here. We have reached a comfortable arrangement, Katerine washes towels and sheets as they go with the house.

She also cleans during the week, different areas different days and I do the rest. Katerine has gifted us with home made Guatemalan soups and tortillas, in return we have bought her and her daughter Katerine sweets and ice creams.

For our second weekend at the casa we had Don and Pam came to stay. Everyone enjoyed catching up and then playing Mexican Train dominos on the Sunday afternoon.

The next weekend a group of friends, 3 couples came and we had an excellent game again do Mexican Train dominoes. And we saw a giant otter! It swam right by.

Exercise now consists of walking from Ram to and over the bridge and back. At present under the restrictions this is the best we can do.

The bridge is large and long and does have an incline plus it’s hot so there is some challenge. Sometimes there is very little traffic other times there are loads of trucks. We look down on the launches racing up or down the Rio, often a nice breeze is blowing. At the Fronteras end we peek into the town sometimes walking under the bridge where we see senoratas doing their wash is the river. I really can not imagine my girls doing this…….

The guardas, milita, and police are all present at the ends of the bridge, checking the drivers IDs and temperatures, plus limiting the number of massive trucks crossing at once. They pay little attention to us and are always friendly.

Another Sunday we walked the road from Fronteras to the Castille (a park where the fort is situated) and of course back again.

This is about 10 kilometers and is quite scenic and shaded for being a main road. We walked with Carol who is trying to train for a trek in Spain she hopes to take in September – the Camino Way.

There was also a party for Muriel’s 60th at Catamaran which was very lively and great for catching up with friends.

Folks did their social distancing and mask wearing when not drinking and eating.

Exploring a river tributary: Rio Cienega

Check out our route on the link below:

Dropped pin
Near Izabal Department, Guatemala

Along with Derick, Carol and Tyler we went on a morning river exploration. There is a tributary of the Rio Dulce that runs past the back of the property where we are located and joins the rio just down from us. We organized a dinghy trip together to see where we could go and what we could see.

It was a gorgeous morning when we set off at 8:30am, still a nice temperate with a gentle breeze. Along the tributary we went, enjoying the jungle, sounds of birds and insects, passing a few farms and just a few folks.

Not one other boat passed us, of course we were hoping to see gators or manatee, but none were around that day. There were a few shallow spots where local fellows were diving under water, filling buckets with aggregate and pouring the bucket full into their large work boat, what a hard way to get building materials!

Overall we traveled 5 and a 1/2 miles along this tributary before heading back. By this time the sun was out full force and the morning was heating up rapidly.

What a wonderful morning river cruise we had…….

Still the restrictions continue here in Guatemala, the convid 19 plague is close, it lives in Fronteras. For us live goes on and we are happy. We enjoy everyday and give thanks for being so fortunate.